Bobby Bones rises to top of country radio

Host becomes a force with unconventional show

Sep. 24, 2013

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The Tennessean

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Country music singer Laura Bell Bundy, left, and nationally syndicated radio host Bobby Bones dance to Bundy's song 'Two Step' during a fundraiser to feed orphans in Haiti. Bones quickly has become a big voice in country radio. / Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Bobby Bones says he may not have traditional old school country music radio elements, but he's not new to country music. / Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

The Bobby Bones Show

• Syndicated in February in 35 country radio markets, the show will soon be in 50 markets and has more than 2 million weekly listeners. • The show is the No. 1 country music morning show in Nashville. • Ratings have more than tripled since the show’s first full month in March. • The show’s August ratings top those of Gerry House from December 2010. Ratings are among ages 25-54. Source: Arbitron Inc. ratings

Bobby Bones is not ashamed to admit that he’s not a cowboy, and he doesn’t own a belt buckle.

When he hosted a Top 40 radio show in Austin, Texas, Bones said he took on criticism because he talked about country music too much for pop radio. Now, the criticism comes from the other direction. Just like the artists Bones says he relates to the most — The Band Perry, Gloriana, Brett Eldredge — he’s able to draw in a younger audience, but he’s also been told he’s not “country enough” for traditional country fans.

“The Bobby Bones Show,” which features co-hosts Amy (Brown) and Lunchbox (Dan Chappell), sounds a lot like a group of friends sitting on the patio at Jackson’s Bar and Bistro in Hillsboro Village talking about whatever comes to mind — politics, current events, music. Only, the conversation is broadcast for millions of people.

“We’re a morning show that when we came together, I was the only one who’d done radio,” Bones said. “These are just all my best friends.”

And yet, despite his alternative take on country and unconventional formula, Bones stands on the brink of becoming the new voice of country music radio. He hosts three syndicated shows, anchored by the “Bobby Bones Show,” a weekday program that launched in February in 35 country radio markets, and soon will be in 50 markets nationwide.

The show attracts more than 2 million weekly listeners, according to Justin Cole, director of country music programming for Premiere Networks.

Bones sits atop a competitive local country morning radio market. Of the top 12 morning shows, three are country. And it’s not just Nashville: A report released by Arbitron last year showed country is the No. 1 radio format nationally, ahead of Top 40 and adult contemporary.

When “The Bobby Bones Show” entered the market in March, it debuted in third place in the key 25-54 demographic among country radio stations behind WKDF-FM and WSM-FM. By June, Bones’ show had taken over first place, and continued to extend its lead through August.

“The Bobby Bones Show” is achieving Nashville-area ratings that eclipse the final ratings of the “Gerry House and the House Foundation,” in the critical 25-54 demographic, a notable accomplishment given House’s decades on country music radio. House, also a well-known Nashville songwriter, was named a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Hall of Fame after his retirement, joining radio legends such as Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack, Larry King and Bob Hope.

“Most people my age, quite honestly, are going to associate WSIX with Gerry House,” said Rich Tiner, professor of media studies at Belmont University. “And they’ve never quite been able to move past that to the next big thing.

“So it makes some sense to try to recapture some of the glory of the Gerry House days. On the other hand, holy cow what a big risk because this is a totally different direction ... in country radio. He’s not the big voice that old guys like me are accustomed to hearing.”

Bones, who grew up in Arkansas and Tennessee, said he takes offense when people say he’s new to country music.

“I was turned down for many country stations before I ever got a job on any station because that’s what I wanted to do first,” Bones said. “I’m not a cowboy. I don’t wear a belt buckle, or I don’t have those traditional old school country music radio elements about me. But from where I grew up and how I grew up, country music has always been the fabric of the music that I’ve listened to.”

Bones was tied for third in the overall morning ratings in August. The show, which airs locally on Clear Channel’s WSIX-FM 97.9, has been on a steady climb. Since the show’s first full month in March, his Nashville ratings in the main demographic have more than tripled.

“Bobby is such an incredibly talented guy and that whole team is just amazing, and the show is so authentic that I think people get it,” Cole said.

Bones’ rise through the radio industry has been as meteoric as Taylor Swift through country music. He graduated from Henderson State in Arkansas in 2002, which is the same year he landed a job with KQAR in Little Rock, Ark. One year later, Bones was hosting a Top 40 show in Austin. The show joined Premiere Networks in 2011 and became syndicated, before he moved to Nashville to launch his country radio show in February.

Bones and his co-hosts, Amy and Lunchbox, also host a Top 30 countdown show on the weekend, and he co-hosts a sports show for FoxSports with retired tennis star Andy Roddick.

“From a business perspective what Clear Channel is doing with Bones’ show is really brilliant,” Tiner said. “I don’t know that he’s the voice of country music yet, but the opportunity is there.”

Bones, 33, said his show works because he and his co-hosts have diverse backgrounds.

“Amy is so conservative, she puts even her religious views right out there for everyone to know and is so passionate,” Bones said. “Lunchbox is the opposite, he’s so liberal. And (producer Eddie Garcia) is from a Hispanic background, his family is from Mexico. ... I’m from Arkansas; I grew up half-ghetto, half-trailer park.”